Investment helps Community Business Development Corporations in providing skills and training to small and medium enterprises.
May 13, 2015 – Moncton – Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA)
The Honourable Rob Moore, Minister of State for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), today announced an investment of $900,000 in the Community Business Development Corporations’ (CBDC) Entrepreneurial Training Fund (ETF). The announcement coincides with this week’s celebration of the 12th annual CBDC Day.
Economic Action Plan 2015 reaffirms that jobs and economic growth remain the Government’s top priority, and programs such as the ETF provide small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with valuable business skills training they need to compete and succeed. The Plan supports job creation and growth by making Canada more competitive and allowing job-creating businesses to thrive, and the ETF supports these goals by helping to train a highly skilled workforce that responds to the evolving needs of employers.
The ETF, administered through CBDCs, is designed to help SMEs access training to build their business management skills, including marketing, communications, financial management, strategic planning and human resource management. This two-year investment in the ETF is in addition to the annual funding the Atlantic CBDCs receive from the Government of Canada, through ACOA, as part of its continued commitment to building a strong, competitive regional economy.
Quick Facts:
• The Government of Canada, through ACOA, provides up to $12.6 million per year in operational and project funding to individual Atlantic CBDCs and their Associations, under the Community Futures Program.
• Since the inception of the Community Futures Program in 1986, the CBDCs have invested over $1 billion in the Atlantic Canadian economy.
• In the last year alone (2014-2015), CBDCs reached an all-time high with investments exceeding $70 million in business loans to rural communities across Atlantic Canada.
• From 2006 to 2011, the CBDCs provided more than $354 million in loans to entrepreneurs and during this period, employment in businesses assisted by CBDCs grew by 6.2% compared to only 2.3% for similar businesses that did not receive CBDC assistance. In addition, sales increased by 10.8% compared to 6.6%, and the five-year survival rate for CBDC-assisted businesses out-performed comparable businesses by 25 percentage points.
• There are 41 CBDCs across Atlantic Canada. For more than three decades, these independent, not-for-profit business-resource centres have remained focused on regional economic development.
• CBDCs work with all levels of government and the private sector to help their clients compete successfully in regional, national and global markets by providing financial and technical services, including training and counseling.
Quotes:
“Creating jobs, growth and long-term prosperity is our Government’s top priority. Our investment in the Entrepreneurial Training Fund will help strengthen communities across Atlantic Canada by ensuring rural businesses have access to the skills training they need to succeed and thrive.”
- The Honourable Rob Moore, Minister of State for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA)
“We are extremely pleased to be receiving an additional $900,000 for the Entrepreneurial Training Fund. The additional capital injection will enable the CBDCs of Atlantic Canada the ability to continue to offer this vital service to entrepreneurs throughout the Atlantic region.”
- Stan Reid, President of the Atlantic Association of CBDCs
Related Products:
• Economic Action Plan 2015
Associated Links:
• Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
• Community Business Development Corporations
Contacts:
Kelsie Corey
Director of Communications
Office of the Honourable Rob Moore
Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
613-941-7241
Carole Saucier
Senior Communications Officer
Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
506-871-3685
carole.saucier@acoa-apeca.gc.ca
Joe Brennan
Senior Program Coordinator
Atlantic Association of Community Business Development Corporations
902-747-2232
joe.brennan@cbdc.ca
